The biggest question in fantasy this September isn’t “who are the must-get call ups”, but rather “how many more IP does Pitcher X have left?” This is because many of the potentially high-impact call ups are already up and producing so barring substantial injuries, there just isn’t a lot of room for September additions to make a massive impact. Meanwhile several of those aforementioned high-impact prospects who might’ve been call ups a couple years back are now several months into their MLB careers after getting the call this summer and sticking.

Let’s take a look at where the youngsters of note are at this point in the season and try to get a read on how much they might have left in the tank. The general rule of thumb that Eno and I adhere to is 20% over your workload from the previous season. There is no set ideal for all pitchers, but 20% is usually what teams will give a young arm and then take it beyond that in a case-by-case basis.

We will start with the guys who won’t come close to the +20% threshold and thus shouldn’t be in grave danger for an innings limit cutting their season short:

Episode 272

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

In this episode, Paul Sporer and Eno Sarris dive into some of the September call-ups who could be worthwhile in fantasy leagues such as Javier Baez, Hector Olivera, Dalton Pompey, Brandon Drury, Kennys Vargas, Frankie Montas and others. Which of the three OF trades from last night has the biggest impact: Austin Jackson, Justin Ruggiano, or Alejandro De Aza? They finish with some talk about Jake Arrieta’s transformation from bust to ace. (Yes, ace.)

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Episode 271

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

In this episode, Paul Sporer and Jason Collette go with a Sunday Freestyle bouncing from team-to-team, player-to-player discussing the likes of Edwin Encarnacion, Nelson Cruz, Max Scherzer, Felix Hernandez, Stephen Strasburg, Jeff Samardzija, Mike Zunino, Stephen Piscotty, Miguel Cabrera, Khris & Chris Davis, among others.

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Episode 270

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

In this episode, Paul Sporer and Eno Sarris discuss the potential call-up status for some big time prospects like Corey Seager, Tyler Glasnow, Jose Berrios, Max Kepler, and A.J. Reed among others. Then they judge some hot Augusts and determine how much staying they have including guys like: Jackie Bradley Jr., Cameron Rupp, Franklin Gutierrez, Nick Castellanos.

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Yesterday I offered up five potential September call-ups who could be substantial power boosts to your lineup if they are indeed called up and find a measure of playing time. Today I’m doing the same thing with some speedsters. While home runs are likely the most important category in fantasy baseball as they impact everything but speed, stolen bases often offer the best route to multiple points in a short timeframe.

This isn’t always the case as your league standings may have stratified in a way where you’re 10+ SBs from even the first point, but in many others that number of stolen bases could be worth three or four points. Expecting 10+ SBs from any one of these players is likely to result in disappointment as just eight players have had a 10+ SB September since 2012, but adding 6 or 7 to your count from an unexpected source can pay real dividends.

Here are five speedy players who might be ready to deliver just that in September:

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We’re on the cusp of September call-ups when rosters expand to 40 guys and a bevy of relative unknowns flood the league. Given the influx of players, it’s hard for even the most alluring of these call-ups to be guaranteed a substantial amount of playing time, but a fast start can help get their name penciled in more regularly as we hit the homestretch of the 2015 season (by the way, how are we almost in September?). It’s been a banner year for rookies coming up and making an impact which actually makes call-up season a little tougher in terms of identifying guys who could really help.

Everyone is still hoping to see Corey Seager, but the playing time issues that have been present in LA all year haven’t exactly cleared up with the emergence of Enrique Hernandez and the addition of Chase Utley into the mix. Plus, at this point Seager is stashed so he’s likely not even be available to you even if we thought he had a bead on significant time. Instead of perusing the top prospect lists, I went through the leaderboards of the upper minor leagues (Triple- and Double-A) looking for guys who could be primed to give us that boost in the standings in the season’s final month.

Some of these guys are in fact top prospects themselves, but others are off-the-radar prospects or journeyman-types who we might not expect a lot from generally speaking, but the opportunity could be there for them to parlay their big minor league season into some major league success. I’m looking specifically for power and speed assets here with the former coming today and the latter coming later this week.

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Episode 269

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

In this episode, Paul Sporer and Eno Sarris discuss some hot hitters, emerging closers, and interesting starters including, but not limited to: A.J. Pollock, Gregory Polanco, Rusney Castillo, Shawn Tolleson, Roberto Osuna, Ken Giles, Kris Medlen, and Matt Cain.

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Episode 268

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

In this episode, Paul Sporer and Jason Collette take their usual Sunday stroll around the league discussing Francisco Lindor, Raisel Iglesias, Derek Dietrich, Mike Fiers, Lance McCullers, and Sean Doolittle among others.

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Yesterday I gave you seven NL pitchers who have fared much better at home and as such should be considered in only their home venues. Today I’ve got six five more from the American League. This strategy is best deployed in mixed leagues, but I broke the list up by leagues just because it would’ve been too huge for one piece.

UPPER TIER

Garrett Richards, LAA (2.28 ERA split) – Richards had one of the worst starts of the year when he went to New York and dropped a 0.7 IP/6 ER turd on fantasy rosters everywhere. That start influences his road work a good bit, but even removing it only gives him a 4.00 ERA on the road. He’s had some good starts on the road, but he has consistently been sharp at home. His 2.53 ERA comes with a 0.99 WHIP and 22% K rate compared to 1.48 and 16% on the road. He’s allowed more than 3 ER just once at home and he still fanned 11 in that game (4 ER v. CLE). The Angels have just 19 home games left this season, one of the lower totals in the league, accounting for 45% of their remaining schedule.

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Episode 267

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is live!

In this episode, Paul Sporer and Eno Sarris talk about trades, injuries, and performances. Specific players discussed include Chase Utley, Marlon Byrd, Anibal Sanchez, Daniel Norris, Byron Buxton, Will Venable, Derek Holland, Nathan Eovaldi, Lance McCullers, and more!

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